Of the Forbidden Forest
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: Poems on the creatures that live in the Forbidden Forest, by enlarge apart from the humans and their war. But that's impossible, isn't it?
1. Centaur

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #004 – reality bites, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #032 – question. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 14/100 and day 13.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
1. Centaur**

Centaur hooves echo  
on a distant dirt floor

(They still choose to look up to the moon  
and the stars that frame it in the sky)

And they run  
through thickets and nests  
without aim

(Why are they running then?  
From what?  
What for?)

As the stars stretch out –  
a halo beyond sight  
leading them to an answer that exists  
nowhere…in the stars

(For they are creatures of the land  
and that is where, ultimately, the stars lead).


	2. Wolves

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #057 – a cheap motel, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #009 – deep. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 23/100 and day 16.

And yes, the fullstop for the last line is missing on purpose.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
2. Wolves**

Howls echoed in the forest  
in otherwise silent nights  
when the full moon shone

(for they were restless then:  
hot, and bothered)

And the insomniac cricket chirps  
had hidden beneath cool leaves  
in buried litter  
with sharp ears blocked

(for it was their mating season  
and they were meeting…  
and more than that)

And two wolves rolled in the sentient  
soil under the umbrella of the moon  
without love: just a mass of passion –  
heated lust – stirring close –

(it was instinct after all)

Like the humans who had come together  
on a mattress of dirt and crumbled leaves  
and the lamp of the full moon.

(it wasn't very romantic  
but then, only humans could fall in love.

Even if they were humans on other days)


	3. Acromantula

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #069 – death's doorstep, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #016 – doomed. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 62/100 and day 25.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
3. Acromantula**

_Click-click click-click click-click click-cli –_

The sound has stopped,  
but the monsters are still there  
in the shadows  
waiting, biding their time,  
venom seeping from their jaws

They bit down on all wood that approached them,  
scared all other creatures away  
for they were distrustful; they had  
only their lair, and their living brood  
and all else was simply prey  
to kill and devour too

_Cli-click cli-click cli-click_

And you're no different;  
they'll kill you too  
and that little stick in your hand  
isn't going to help you much at all.

_Cli-click cli-click_

See? They're already closing in.


	4. Threstals

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #082 – all bark and no bite, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #044 –chivalric. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 63/100 and day 25.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
4. Threstals**

They are beautiful  
but grim and ghostly wraiths  
black by the scent they seek:

Those sad souls who grieve  
past acceptance, to whom  
their smooth oil skin brings  
some comfort

Or so they hope, they wish,  
but their ghastly appearance brings  
something else

And there are few who comfort themselves  
with the aromatic oils they smear  
upon themselves – but for those  
who accept them as well, they  
will sharpen their claws  
of so-called death anew

To protect them.

Elsewise they don't take the dead  
but come to the living left behind.


	5. Unicorns

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #119 – pigs, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #045 – gem. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 64/100 and day 25.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
5. Unicorns**

They would flee instead  
of coiling to a man's touch,  
though the youth would sometimes come

But the elder ones were wise:  
wise, and more sure-footed,  
leaving their hoof-prints behind  
while carrying away their gold.

Their manes shine a pure white  
in even the darkest night;  
their horns are then a lightning rod  
shining ever bright

And their blood, a silver drink of life  
they bear with care within

And it is for this reason that they flee  
from the touch of men.  
Not all are greedy pigs they know  
but still, many are:

The few with pure hearts  
they cannot smell  
within the horde

But a woman's scent is something  
they cannot refrain from.


	6. Bowtruckle

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #946 - unintentional, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #024 – nook. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 65/100 and day 25.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
6. Bowtruckle**

They were often creatures  
one did not see,  
hidden as they were

And they preferred it such.  
They meant no harm:  
peaceful insect-eaters  
of their little nooks in trees

But when they were grabbed they bit  
and sometimes got away  
but mostly they were snapped instead  
often by mistake.


	7. Hippogriff

**A/N:** Written for the If You Dare Challenge, level DARK and prompt #964 – dedicated to you, and for the non-human character boot camp, prompt #038 – always. Also written for the 100_poems challenge on livejournal, poem 66/100 and day 25.

* * *

**Of the Forbidden Forest  
7. Hippogriff**

They were proud creatures,  
Hippogriffs  
but a friend till the end  
if you had one.

A friend you could never lose,  
never forget, never hate

For their snowy white wings  
would send a storm from the heavens  
if they could build paradise

For you.

But to their enemies they were a wild thing  
shrieking and scratching

And to those who knew them not  
they were simply fleeting shadows  
on the forest floor.


End file.
